Wringer



D. K. FERRIS Jan. 9, 1951 WRINGER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. l0, 1945 Jan. 9, 1951 D, K, FERRls 2,537,401

WRINGER Filed Sept. .10, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 9 l 3 INVENTOR..

' MMD/ Patented Jan. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT oFEicE WRINGER Donald K. Ferris, Dayton, hio, `a srsgnor to General Motors Corporation, DaytonyOhio, a corporation' of Delaware Application septemberio, 1945, serial No. 615,415

(c1. fis-'255) 7 Claims.

index the wringer as well as to prevent rotation v of the rolls during indexing together with means for preventing automatic re-starting of the wringer rolls after indexing.

It is another object of my invention to provide a clothes wringer with an indexing arrangement which will also stop rotation of the rolls upon an overload or by the instinctivereaction of an operator when an accident occurs.

It is another object of my invention to provide a clothes wringer with a simple indexing arrangement wherein the force retaining the wringer in the indexing station reduces as the wringer is swung out of the station.

It is another object of my invention to provide a clothes wringer with a simple indexing arrangement wherein the force retaining the wringer in the indexing station is diierent in diierent directions of rotation.

Briefly, these objects are attained by providing a swinging wringer in which a rotatable element, capable of being lodged in any one of a plurality of notches, holds the wringer in any one of the corresponding selective` indexing stations. When the wringer is moved from one indexing station to another, the rotatable element pivots out of the notch in which it is retained and this pivoting action moves the manual control device from either a forward or a reverse driving position to the neutral position in which it remains after the newly selected indexing station is reached. The torque reaction of the vertical drive shaft tends to swing the wringer on its axis and if the rotation of theroll should be stopped or become ydiicu'lt the wringer V.will swing to cause the rotatable element to throw the control mechanism to the neutral position. In the event of an accident not involving the application of a heavy drag on the rolls there Will normally be an instinctive reaction by the person attending the wringer to either push or pull the wringer which will cause it to swing and operate the rotatable element to move the control to the neutral position. f

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a Wringer embodying one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is ay sectional View taken along the line Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-=3' Of Fig. 1';

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional 'view similar v to,v FigrS showing the i;pivojtin'g Vofthe rotatable Fig.

post 22 contains a vertical drive shaft 24hormally driven by an electric motor beneath the tub 20. The post 22 is held in place by a bracket 28 fastened to the tub 20. Resting upon the bracket 28 and rotatably mounted on the portionof the post 22 above the bracket 28 is the wringer head 3l) including a lower cylindrical portion 32 and' a rectangular shaped gear box 36 containing the forward driving pinion 38 and the reverse'driving pinion 4D, each of which' are continuously in meshwith the crown gearf42, which connects through the bearingportion 4Q to the lower roll 45 of the wringen The upper roll .43 may be driven from` the lower roll 'as is conventional. The remaining portions of the wringer may bev like that shown in the Kauffman Patent 2,216,745 issued October 8, 1940. Y

The driving pinions 38 and 40 are rotatably mounted upon an upper drive shaft 46 which preferably connects to the lower drive shaft S24 through a pin and slot connection." The drive `shaft 46 is rotatably supported and prevented from moving axially by bearings at the top and bottom of the gear box 36. For this purpose the upper end of the drive shaft 46 is reduced in size and the shoulder so formed is'held against' the upper driving pinion 40 which in turn is held against the thrustbearing surface Ill by "a: washer lll held in place by a nut ll3at the top of the shaft. The gear box 36 is normally filled with a heavy grease forlubricating ,purposes Considerable diiculty is voften encountered in.

properly lubricating these upper 'bearing surfaces. For this purpose between the teeth of the gear 40 I drill-one or morelubricating passages Figl 5 is'asectional view along the lineS-- of l II5 which extend to the thrust bearing surface I I 'I in the top of the gear box.

By this arrangement as the crown gear 42 rotates it picks up grease between its teeth and when this grease passes between the contacting portions of the gears and 42 it is squeezed. When the lubricant passage II5 comes by the meshing point of these gears the grease is squeezed and forced under pressure through this lubricant passage H5 to the thrust bearing surface II'I and also to the bearing provided by the reduced upper portion of the shaft 46. Inasmuch as there is quite a heavy pressure upon the thrust bearing II? as well as the bearing provided by the reduced portion of the shaft 46, this lllbri-V teeth for engagement with complementary clutch teeth provided upon the opposite ends of the clutch collar 56 which is splined to the drive shaft 46. This clutch collar is normally held in its neutral non-driving position by the roller l5 which rides in a deep groove extending around the middle of the collar 50. The axis of this roller 52 extends substantially directly to the axis of the drive shaft 46, so that there is a minimum of friction between it and the groove in the collar 56. This roller 52 is rotatably mounted upon the lever 54 pivoted upon the pin 56 extending from the wall of the gear casing or box 36. The distance of the roller 52 from the pivot 56 insures that its lateral movement will be small when the lever 54 is raised and lowered. At its opposite end the lever is provided with a notch 58which receives a projection 6I) provided at the middle of a semi-elliptic leaf spring 62 fastened at its opposite ends to the gear casing or box 36.

This arrangement normally holds the Clutch collar 56 in the neutral position unless it is forced to either of the driving positions.

Above the notch 58 is provided a notch -64 for forward driving of the rolls. Below the notch 5B there is provided a notch 66 for reverse driving of the rolls. The lever 54 is moved into either the forward or reverse positions by a pin 'I0 which engages a slot in the lever 5 4. This pin 'I0 pro-f trudes from a stub shaft I2 rotatably mounted in the end wall of the gear casing 36 and connected to an operating shaft I4 provided with an operatf ing handle 'I6 at its outer end. When the handle I6 is in its vertical position, the lever 54 and the clutch collar 56 are in their neutral positions. If the handle 'I6 is moved to the front, as viewed in Fig. 1, the lever 54 is moved downwardly until the projection 66 slides into the notch 64 thus resiliently latchingthe lower teeth of the clutch collar 56 in engagement with the teeth on the forward driving pinion 38. If the handle I6 is moved to thev rear the pin 16 will lift the lever until the projection 6D slides into the notch 66 thereby resiliently latching the upper teeth of the clutch collar 56 in engagement with the teeth on the reverse driving pinion 4B.

To hold the Wringer in any one of the plurality of indexing stations I provide a collar 26 which rests upon and is fastened to the ange 28. This collar 26 surrounds the bottom of the cylindrical portion 32 of the head 30 and is provided withY four wide notches I8 providing four indexing stations. These notches are sufficiently long to receive the long side of a rectangular rotatable member which is rotatably mounted upon the bearing screw 8l. The edges of the notches are beveled to a limited extent in order to guide the rotatable rectangular member 80 into the notches in such a way that the long side thereof will enter the notch and lie at on the bottom thereof as shown in`Fig. 3.

' The amount of force required to swing the wringer and wringer head out of any of the indexing stations depends upon the angle between the axis of the bearing screw 8I and the corner '8,7 which acts as a knife edge pivot at the top of the side of the notch. If the angle is very flat, that is, if the side of the notch is high relative to the axis of the bearing screw 8|, the force re quired will be very great, and these relationships are taken advantage of -to provide some compensation for the effect of the torque provided by the drive shaft 24 which tends to turn the wringer and wringer head in a clockwise direction when looking down from above. For this reason the bevel 83 on the clockwise side of the notches 'I8 is made smaller than the bevel 85 on the counterclockwise side of the notch 18. This provides the knife edge 81 on the clockwise side and the knife edge 89 on the counterclockwise side of the notch 'I8 which determine the angle between the axis of the bearing screw BI and the pivot point upon which the rotatable rectangular member 86 pivots out of notch 16.

It should be noted that since the angle increases, the initial force required to start the rectangular element 66 to pivot out of the notch it is greater than any force which will be re.u quired to keep it moving out of the notch. That is, the force opposing the pivoting of the rece tangular element Si? out of the notch 'i8 reduces of the wringer in this direction is provided.`

However, since the shaft 2li turns in this direction, this side of the notch must take care of the torque reaction of the wringer. Should a wad of clothing come to the rolls i3 and G5, the torque reaction will increase and if the wad is suiciently large the initial force required to pivot the rotatable rectangular element Si out of the notch may be exceeded and the wringer will swing out of the indexing station.

The bearing screw 8i, which supports the rectangular member 8D, is threaded into the bottom of the slide member 82. This vertical slide memher 8 2 is provided with a slot 9| surrounding a bearing island 9S protruding from the side of the cylindrical portion 32 of the wringer head 36. A rectangular headed screw S5 threads into the island so that its transversely positioned head This arrangement provides a iirm` vertical guide for the lower end of the vertical slide -member 82.

The vertical slide member 82 is provided with a vertical slot 9'! through which extends a screw from the support 86 inV such a manner as to guide the mid-portion of the slide member 82. The top of the slide member 82 is provided with a slot I I9 which receives the bearing screw H2 so that the upper portion of slot member 82 is vfirmly guided. Between the slots 91 and I I9 is an enlarged opening IIii in the slide member 82. Within this enlarged opening I I4 is a wing member or transverse projection 9S fastened to and extending across the outer face of the shaft l2. The opening I I4 is provided with shoulders 92 and 94 and a recess between the shoulders.

If the operating handle 'I6 is moved to the forward or reverse driving positions, the projection 96 will be tilted in one direction or the other. the reverse position being indicated by dot and dash lines in Fig. 3. The pivoting of the rotatable rectangular element out of any one of the notches 'le in either direction will raise the slide member 82 so as to cause one of the shoulders '92 or 94 to engage the adjacent end of the projection 95 so as to force the projection 96 to the horizontal position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, and in so doing handle "I5, shaft '14', the lever 54, the roller 52 and the clutch collar 50 will be forced to the neutral or non-driving position. A tension spring I IB connects an aperture-in the slide member 82 with a screw H8 upon the bottom of the cylindrical portion 32 so as to provide a force tending to keep the rotatable rectangular element in one of the notches 18. The force of the spring together with the angular relationship of the other shapes of elements may be used for this purpose. I find, however, that the choice of angular relationships is more limited when other shapes of rotatable members are chosen.

To prevent the wringer head 39 from being bodily lifted when the rotatable member 39 pivots out of one of the notches 'I8 I provide a screw |20 which threads through the lower cylindrical portion 32 of the head 39 into an annular groove I22 provided in a collar |24 fixed within the top of the wringer post 22. This prevents the wringer head 3i) from being withdrawn from the wringer post. This forces the slide member 82 to move relative to the head 30 when the rotatable memi ber pivots out of the notch so as to insure the forcing of the clutch collar 5i] to the neutral position. To permit the withdrawal of the wringer from the wringer post, the upper rim of the groove I22'is notched on the line between the center of the shaft 24 and the center of the tub 20. This makes it possible to remove the wringer only when-it is directly over the tub 29. It is safe to permit this in this one position, since the wringer is never gused in this position.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims which follow. f

What is claimed is as follows:

l. A wringer comprising a wringer support member provided with a drive shaft, a wringer head member rotatably mounted on the support member, said head member being provided with a forward and reverse drive mechanism connected to said shaft for driving the wringer rolls, manual control means having an operating device extending from said head member for moving the forward and reverse drive mechanism to and from driving and non-driving positions, a rotatable rectangular element rotatably mounted upon one of said members, the other .of said members having a plurality of notches adapted to receive one side portion of said element, and means operated by the coaction between the rotatable rectangular element and one of said notches upon rotation of the wringer head member on the support member for Amoving the forward and reverse drive mechanism from one position to another.

2. A wringer comprising a wringer Support member provided with a drive shaft, awringer head member rotatably mounted on the support member, said head member being provided with a forward and reverse drive mechanism ccnnected to said shaft for driving the wringer rolls, manual control means having an operating device extending from said head member for moving the forward and reverse drive mechanism to and from driving and non-driving positions, a movable transmitting means mounted on said head member and provided with means for moving said manual control means and Said forward and reverse drive mechanism from one position to another, and a rotatable element rotatably mounted upon said transmitting means, said support member having a plurality ofnotches partially receiving said rotatable element for yieldablv retaining said head member in various indexing stations and for coacting with said rctatable element to operate said transmitting means upon rotation of said head member relative tothe support member.

3. A vvringer comprising a wringer support member provided with a drive shaft, a wringer head member rotatably mounted on the support member, said head member being provided with a forward and reverse drive mechanism connected to said shaft for driving the wringer rolls, manual control means having an operating device extending from saidy head member for movnotches for receiving a portion of said element to provide a plurality of indexing stations, said element and said notches being so shaped as to require the pivoting of the element to lift it out of the notch upon rotation of the head member away from any of the indexing stations, and means responsive to the lifting of the rotatable element out of the notch for moving the forward and reverse drive mechanism from one position to another.

4. A wringer comprising a wringer support member provided with a drive shaft, a wringer head member rotatably mounted on the support member, said head member being provided with a forward and reverse drive mechanism connected to said shaft for driving the wringer rolls, manual control means having an operating device extending from said head member for moving the forward and reverse drive mechanism to and from driving and non-driving positions, one of said members being provided with a rotatable equal angled polyhedron element, the other of said members being provided with a plurality of notches each capable of receiving an entire side of the polyhedron element to provide a p1ura1ity oi indexing stations, and means responsive to the COaCtiOn between the polvhedron element and one of the notches upon the rotation of the head member out of one of the indexing stations for moving said forward and reverse drive mechanism from one position to another.

5. A wringer comprising a Wringer support member provided with a drive shaft, a wringer head member rotatably mounted on the support member, said head member being provided with a drive mechanism connected to said shaft for driving the wringer rolls, manual control means having an operating device extending from said head member for moving the drive mechanism to -and from driving and non-driving positions,

means for resiliently holding said head member in any one of a plurality of indexing stations With a force which decreases as the head member is moved out of the station, said last mentioned means including a notch in one of said members `and an element on the other member receivable in said notch, and means responsive to the move- Y ment of the head member out of the station for moving the drive mechanism from one position to another, said notch having one Wall of greater height than an opposite wall whereby said decreasing force is greater in one direction of rotation of the head than in the other direction.

6. A wrineer comprising a wringer support provided with a drive shaft, a wringer head rotatably mounted on the wringer support, said head being provided with forward and reverse drive mechanism connected te said shaft for driving the wrinser rolls, manual control means having an operating member extending from said head for moving the drive mechanism to forward driving, reverse driving and neutral poe sitions, and an element slidably mounted on said head for movement parallel to the axis of said drive shaft, said vvringer support being provided with a plurality of stationing notches providing a plurality of indexing stations, said slidably mounted element being provided with rotatable means of such a size as to rotate into and out of said notches for holding the wringer in any one of said indexing stations, said element being provided with means cooperating with the manual control means for moving the manual control means from one position to another when said rotatable means rotates out of one of said notches; said rotatable means being in the form of a rectangular member rotatably mounted upon said element, and said notches being suiiicient in size to receive one side of said rectangular member.

'7. A wringer comprising a wringer support member provided with a drive shaft, a wringer head member rotatably mounted on the support member, said head member being provided with a forward and reverse drive mechanism connected to said shaft for driving the wringen' rolls in either direction, manual control means having an operating device extending from a side of the head member for moving the forward and reverse drive mechanism to and from driving and non-driving positions, said support member being provided with a plurality of upwardly facing notches, a transmission member provided With a rotatable means normally in engagement with one of said notches, said transmission member being provided with a bearing upon which the rotatable means is rotatably mounted, said transmission member being slidably mounted upon a side of the head member, said transmission member being provided with means for operating said manual control means when said transmission member is moved relative to the head member, and means providing a yielding force for holding the rotatable means in one of said notches.

DONALD K. FERRIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'IENTSV Number Name Date 1,032,724 Adams July 16, 1912 1,631,537 Krenzke June 7, 1927 1,638,312 Barker Aug. 9, 1927 1,853,919 More Apr. l2, 1932 2,297,997 Behan Oct. 6, 1942 2,406,788 Barcus Sept. 3, 1946 

